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Pub arson killer’s Get Out Of Jail Free business cards

Pub arsonist Keith Willoughby
Pub arsonist Keith Willoughby

Killer Keith Willoughby has been handing out tasteless Monopoly-style Get Out of Jail Free business cards.

The 62-year-old served eight years for manslaughter after he blew up the Old Locomotive pub in Station Road West and killed his friend Derek Drury.

Mr Drury’s sister, Denise Cutress, reacted with fury when she learned of the cards and branded them “sick”.

The cards include Willoughby’s home address in Kirby’s Lane – just yards from the scene of the 2002 blast.

They also contain the fictitious internet address www.doublesix.co.uk – a reference to the fact Monopoly players can get out of jail by rolling a double.

And they say he can be contacted for information or advice.

When asked about the cards, Willoughby was reluctant to discuss them.

“There is an element of humour behind them,” he said. “But I don’t have anything more to say about it.”

It is 10 years ago this week that Willoughby’s manslaughter trial started at Maidstone Crown Court.

Willoughby's 'get out of jail free' card
Willoughby's 'get out of jail free' card

In August of the previous year, he and Mr Drury went to the Old Locomotive in Canterbury and splashed petrol around the building.

Their intention was to destroy it so Willoughby could collect insurance money and sell the site.

The pub exploded when Mr Drury, a 40-year-old taxi driver from Whitstable, lit a cigarette on an outside back staircase.

The former Old Locomotive pub erupted into a fireball. Picture: Michelle Lanstone
The former Old Locomotive pub erupted into a fireball. Picture: Michelle Lanstone

He was killed and Willoughby was thrown into Station Road West.

The former St Edmund’s School pupil served eight years of a 12-year sentence for manslaughter at Sheppey prisons Elmley and Swaleside.

Just weeks into his sentence, he was bludgeoned in his cell by three men brandishing iron bars.

Upon learning of the Monopoly business cards, Mrs Cutress, 47, said: “It’s sick. It’s quite unbelievable. He is sick.

Derek Drury's sister Denise and nieces Danielle (left) and Toni
Derek Drury's sister Denise and nieces Danielle (left) and Toni

“I can’t believe he would do something like that.”

Mrs Cutress lives in St Andrew’s Close, Whitstable. Her family visit Station Road West each year on her brother’s birthday.

She has not seen Willoughby since the day of his sentencing in Maidstone in April 2004.

“It’s sick. It’s quite unbelievable. He is sick" - Denise Cutress

“But if I did see him, I would confront him and ask him why he had to be so greedy and blow the place up,” she said.

“He should have done more time in prison for his crime.”

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